Laser printers have become very popular in recent times due to their ability to print clear images. Generally, laser printers are available as monochrome only printers, such as printers that print only in black, or color printers that print in color as well as monochrome. These printers operate by converting an image on a client device such as a personal computer into data that is received by a formatter that stores the data in the printer. The formatter generates coded data representing the image, which is then transmitted by the formatter to a print engine that drives the mechanisms of the printer to convert the data back into an image that is printed on a print medium, such as paper.
Formatters utilize integrated circuits (chips) to perform the formatting function in a printer. A single chip solution for both monochrome and color formatting provides the functions for both monochrome formatting and color formatting in a single chip. The single chip then can be used in both color printers and monochrome printers.
The single chip solution has several drawbacks, however. The primary problem with the single chip solution is that, when used in a monochrome printer, the color formatting capability is wasted. The circuitry associated with performing the color formatting function consumes valuable chip area. Monochrome printers are cost sensitive, so including the color formatting circuitry in the single chip adds unacceptable cost to the monochrome printer.
Another solution that has been used to provide both color formatting and monochrome formatting capability is a two-chip solution. The two-chip solution attempts to optimize the monochrome formatter by placing all the functional blocks that are unique to the color formatter onto a separate chip, sometimes referred to as a color chip. The color chip is then attached to the monochrome chip using a high-speed expansion bus, such as a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.
The two-chip solution successfully simplifies the monochrome chip thereby reducing its cost by removing the color formatting specific functional blocks to the color chip, but much of this cost advantage is negated by the necessary addition of the high-speed expansion bus to both the monochrome chip and the color chip. Furthermore, the performance of both the monochrome chip and the color chip are affected adversely by data transfer time over the high-speed expansion bus.
An additional solution that has been attempted is an independent chip solution. The independent chip solution provides two separate and independent chips. One chip provides the monochrome formatter and is used only in monochrome printers. A second separate and independent chip provides the color formatter and is used only in color printers.
The independent chip solution also has disadvantages. Each chip is designed separately thereby increasing the cost of designing both chips. The color chip by necessity includes some of the common functionality the color chip has with the monochrome chip. Further, the economies of scale are not present; i.e., the manufacturing cost benefit of the relatively high production volumes of the monochrome chip is lost.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.